24 abril, 2012

COMMUNITIES WILL SUE STATE AT INTERAMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND FORMULATE AN ACTION PLAN AGAINST CONGA

Meanwhile the minister of Environment states that the government will set new conditions for implementing the mining project.

With the legal advice of Grufides, a local NGO that organizes training and pleads for sustainable development, and the International Institute of Law and Society (IIDS), the communities and the peasant self-defense patrols (rondas campesinas) are preparing a lawsuit against the state before the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission* for having violated their rights by deciding unilaterally to implement the Conga-project in their territories.

According to Mirtha Vásquez, de Grufides, different rights are being violated; rights referring to life, personal integrity, private property and political rights. These rights are protected by the American Convention on Human Rights.

Members of the communities and the self-defense patrols request that the InterAmerican Human Rights Commission recommends that the state, among other requirements, suspends the implementation of the Conga-project, installs referenda before granting concessions, rescinds the military forces from the provinces of Celendín, Cajamarca and Bambamarca, re-establishes indigenous institutions in the state.

Two days after receiving the report of the international expert on the Conga mining project, minister of environment, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, announced that the government will set new conditions for the project. The minister warned that the conclusions made by international experts will compel the government to make a “political and administrative evaluation.”

The minister also referred to the dialogue between the Council and the regional government of Cajamarca to discuss the mining project. He said he already sent a formal invitation to regional president Gregorio Santos, and he is awaiting an answer.

This night Gregorio Santos declined the invitation from the minister of Environment. “This invitation came too fast, it shows the desperation regarding this issue” the regional president of Cajamarca said. “The topics related to our regional development, should be discussed here in Cajamarca” he added.

Gregorio Santos now is being sued for the embezzlement and the misappropriation of funds. One of the charges against the regional president is the misuse of regional funds, about 6 million Nuevo Soles, for the organization of activities related to the regional strikes on November 9 and 24, and December 4. This money was used for publicity goals.

An action plan

Yesterday night, the Unified Command of the Struggle met in Cajamarca to debate about, and approve the action plan. It is a plan to defend the waters of the provinces of Celendín, Cajamarca and Bambamarca. Today, the conclusions will be discussed during a final meeting in Huasmín. There, final decisions will be made.

* The original text (La Republica, April 20, 2012) of the article speaks of an InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. Several independent sources contradict this. They speak of InterAmerican Human Rights Commission.

(Sources of text: La Republica, April 20, 2012 – Panorama, April 20, 2012 – El Commercio, April 20, 2012)

http://congaeuropa.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/communities-will-sue-state-at-interamerican-human-rights-commission-and-formulate-an-action-plan-against-conga/

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